Free Julien's Book by Casey McMillin

downloading it to my phone when I get home."
    "Don't do it," he said.
    "What?" She laughed at him, incredulous.
    " Please," he begged. "Don't read it. Not yet."
    "I hope you know that forbidding me to do something just makes me want to do it that much sooner," she said.
    " Just to put it out there, I don't necessarily believe you when you say you haven't read it, but on the off chance you're telling me the truth, please promise me not to read the book. Not yet."
    "You're really freaking me out."
    "Just hang out after class. I'm done after this and I'll explain."
    The w ater break went longer than he said, and the girls started to get restless. He wasn't usually distracted, and apparently they didn't appreciate it when he was.
    He and Nadine didn't say another word to each other until after class was over. "Can you hang out for a little bit?" he asked. She had lingered behind when all the other girls made their way to the door and they were mostly alone.
    "I thought we already established that," she said nervously.
    "What I mean is can you come with me somewhere."
    "You mean like leave with you?"
    Julien shrugged. "Why not?"
    "Because I don't know you, and you can easily overpower me."
    " Ah, but that's one of the things you like about me, isn't it?"
    She rolled her eyes, hoping to seem nonchalant. "Where are you supposed to be taking me?" she asked.
    "Just for a drive. Maybe out by my house. It doesn't really matter. There's just always someone listening around here, and I wanted a few minutes to talk to you alone."
    She looked deep into his eyes, and found that she liked what she saw. She almost felt like she could see his secret-most intentions, and understood they were innocent and pure. She knew it was probably dumb to get in the car and head to some mystery location in the dark with someone like him, but she didn't care. She had major trust issues as a result of a crazy ex-boyfriend, but somehow Julien was able to break through her defenses with nothing but a pleading look.
    Nadine climbed into Julien's Jeep, thinking about how much she loved the feel of an old car. It was old enough to be considered classic, but he kept it up really well. She'd seen it in the parking lot several times, and wondered who it belonged to.
    "I like your Jeep," she said.
    He just smiled as if he knew she was going to say that as he started the engine.

 
    Chapter 8
     
     
    Julien took Nadine to a park on the college campus. It was dark out, and he knew it'd be a good place to hang out for a few minutes. They sat on a park bench, looking out at the fenced-in swamp in front of them. He shifted and turned to regard her.
    " There's a woman named Shea Miller. She wrote a romance novel about a guy named Julien who had a birthmark like mine. She used my name and my birthmark, but made up a bunch of other crazy shit about me to make the character Julien's story worth telling." Julien paused, but Nadine just stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. "The girl character in the book is named Nadine, and when you came in the gym, I assumed you were just saying your name was Nadine just because you'd read the book and you thought that would make me like you."
    "Why's that such a big deal?"
    "It's not, which is why I'm trying to get you to trust me when I tell you I don't think you should read it. I'm asking you to do that as a favor to me because I think I'd like to get to know you and I'm afraid that you reading the book would change things between us."
    The only words Nadine focused on w ere "I'd like to get to know you." The thought of getting to know this gorgeous, mysterious guy made her weak in the knees. And what exactly had he meant by that anyway?
    She was lost in thought about getting to know him before she remembered the unsettled feeling she was having as a result of the whole book thing. "I'm feeling like there's something you're not telling me about the book," she said.
    He looked at her with a smile, but she could see the underlying